Ana giggled as she was treated like a high-end customer in the shop when she tried the dresses. A girl dressed in a fitted uniform followed her closely and helped her in choosing many dresses.
She picked up a red velvet dress, a black chiffon dress, a white dress she did not know the material of, a blue one with sequins, and a light pink dress with pearls on the neckline.
She tried them twice and took many of her pictures. Her face was elated with joy as she traced the fabric with her hands. Her eyes filled with complex emotions. For a second, she felt strange that she had bought all these dresses from Ethan's money.
But she pushed that thought away. It was normal for boyfriends to give gifts to their lovers. And they were the same age.
"Would you like to try more dresses, madam?" The woman already had a few choices in her hands. Ana looked at them and gulped but she shook her head.
"No, I think I am done.'' She placed all the dresses she had finalized in her basket to get a look of disappointment from the salesgirl. But looking at the dresses again. She cheered herself up and guided Ana to the billing counter.
"That will be 9500 dollars madam." the woman gave a professional sweet smile to Ana. "and as you are the first customer today, this small clutch is our complimentary gift." Ana's eyes gleamed as she looked at the small coffee color clutch. It would go well with all the dresses.
With twinkling eyes, she paid all the money she had received from Ethan and took the bags in her hands.
"Madam, there is a high-end salon newly opened in the vicinity. They are offering a 30% discount since it is their first working day. You should try it." The sales girl who had helped Ana in choosing her dresses came forward and suggested looking at Ana's face as if she was in desperate need of those things.
Ana paused. She had been to small salons for her haircut and waxing. But those kinds of buildings charge a lot and she did not have much left. She noticed how the salesgirl was looking at her with hopeful eyes and knew she must be getting a commission. But the desire to be in such a place thrilled her too.
She had seen how these places treat their customers and wanted to taste it once.
"Umm, I will return with my boyfriend then." the salesgirl nodded and quickly took out a card from the salon.
"Give it to them and they will give you a discount." chirping, she returned to her job. Ana shook her head. She had only lied to save her image. But as she held the card, she read it and felt the need to visit them.
She had spent all her money so she could not hire a cab and buses did not visit this area. She was glad that she was closer to the shop Ethan had given the address to, so she walked, humming a tone.
When she reached there, she saw a girl already cleaning the shop and arranging furniture there. A flicker of surprise crossed her mind. She had never thought Ethan was serious.
So she had randomly chosen the table covers and vases. She had bought a few paintings too but she had bought everything from roadside stalls to save more money for her dresses. She was under the impression that it was going to get wasted anyway.
With cautious eyes, she opened the door. The bell attached to the door jingled, getting the attention of Mary. She had already cleaned the whole shop and arranged furniture. She was waiting for Ethan to return, hoping he would not think of her as a freeloader but a useful person.
But she was surprised to see a girl wearing a red dress and glasses. She looked like a rich madam and her hands were full of shopping bags.
"Ah, madam. The place is still getting ready. We will open the business in three days. Would you mind checking other restaurants instead?" she spoke softly, hoping that the woman would be understanding enough.
Ana rolled her eyes at the fawning voice of the new waitress. At least she knew how to do her work properly. But she could not let go of the feeling that she did not look like a cleaner or waitress.
She was way too beautiful to be any of it.
"I am not a customer," Ana replied in a bit of a cold voice as she glanced at Mary and looked away. She walked in as if she owned the place and put her shopping bags on the neatly arranged table. "This place belongs to my boyfriend."
The words paused Mary. She remembered Ethan talking about her last night. But she had not thought that she would meet her already.
"And I have brought a few things for this place. Come help me in organizing them." She commanded Mary. Mary had been treated politely all the time since her father was in a good position in the gang.
Not only that she had grown up among notorious men who kill people for disrespect. She felt gloomy when she heard the commanding voice but as she remembered Ethan, she gulped her pride and nodded.
"Ah, I apologize then." With that, she opened the bags, Ana pointed and started to take out things properly.
Finally, Ana felt a bit better and sat at the table.
"Where is Ethan?" she asked after a pause. Mary did not look back at Ana as she heard the question.
"He said he is going to buy some breakfast and would guide me for the rest later." guide her? The words irked Ana. She stared closely and Mary continued to work until the door opened again.
Ethan had two bags full of snacks as he smiled at both of them.
"Ana, you are earlier," he commented as his eyes raked on the dress she had chosen. It was a backless red dress with thin straps holding it. It was tightly hugging her body to her waist and then flowing freely to her upper thighs. Since Ana had folded her legs as she sat on the chair, the dress had ridden up enough to show her thin underwear.
Ethan feasted on her body. Ana blushed, noticing his heated gaze. But she felt pride too. That was the look she wanted from him in front of other women.
"Yes, I wanted to show you the dress. How am I looking? " Perhaps, she should have returned one dress and gone to the salon instead. Ana felt too conscious when He did not reply for a long time and kept staring at her while walking toward her slowly.
He held Ana by her waist. His grip was tight and demanding, making her giggle.
"Let me tell you how you are looking in the room above?" tiling his head, he looked at stunned Mary, "I hope you do not mind a little mess in your room."